ABC’s ‘Resurrection’ Rises to 17 Million Viewers in DVR Playback

ABC rookie drama “Resurrection,” which impressed in its premiere last Sunday, has grown its total-viewer number to 17 million thanks to early DVR playback.

According to Nielsen Live + 3 data, which incorporates same-night viewing and time-shifting done from Monday through Wednesday of last week, “Resurrection” grew by 22% — from 13.9 million to about 17 million. While not a particularly large percentage gain for three days, 17 million viewers is a number that few drama premieres achieve these days.

In fact, “Resurrection” is the most-watched regular-timeslot drama premiere of the season in L3, a bit ahead of NBC’s “The Blacklist” from September (17.043 million to 16.945 million). CBS’ “Intelligence,” which had an off-night premiere behind “NCIS” on a Tuesday in January (behind that show’s nearly 21 million viewers), tops all rookie dramas in L3 with 18.990 million viewers.

In adults 18-49, “Resurrection” grew by 32%, from a 3.8 to a 5.0, putting it not far behind NBC’s “The Voice” (5.3 rating), which was the week’s No. 2 broadcast in L3 (behind “The Big Bang Theory”).

ABC is replaying the pilot of “Resurrection” on Saturday in advance of the show’s second episode the next night.

Another Sunday premiere, Fox’s “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey,” saw a similar percentage gain in adults 18-49, rising from a 2.1 to a 2.8 in L3. In total viewers, the Fox airing jumped from 5.77 million to 7.54 million. The debut of the show, simulcast on numerous Fox channels, drew 8.5 million same-night viewers across those networks.

I love the show, could not wait to watch it. We lost our son in the Army also 8 years ago, on April 7 2006. I wish with all my heart and soul the show was real. I have one comment that bothered me about the show. A very small detail was off. The boy died 32 years ago, he never saw or knew about iPhones. For the little boy to pick it up and use it without any help didn’t set right with me. Please watch for the smallest details. I watch and rewatch the show. I would give anything if my son could come back to us. I know the show isn’t real, but in some odd way I wish it could. For an hour on Sunday I can dream that my son might be coming home.

I did watch the pilot and liked it. but once I realized this was ABC with their history of pulling shows so quickly (Flash Forward, The Event) I remembered I had promised myself not to trust this network. What to do, what to do?

It’s astounding to see publications like Variety and others report Neilsen numbers like they somehow reflect something resembling reality. They don’t. Neilsen is the biggest hoax in TV broadcast history. You watched Resurrection, or didn’t, and nobody at Neilsen knows anything about it. They just manufacture those numbers with the magic algorithm and call them gospel. Networks need to come up with a more accurate system for assessing who’s watching what and when.

Right on Keith. How do they know who recorded and show and then when they watched it. Really?
If the level of information gathering has gone that grainular then we have a lot more to woory about than L3!